Flag of San Marino

San Marino flag history stretches back for hundreds of years. The nation of San Marino has only used three different flags over that period in spite of its long length, which makes the San Marino flag one of the most stable and unchanging flags in southern Europe. The oldest of those flags is so ancient that the precise dates of adoption and use are lost to history, but a clear record of San Marino flag history does exist for the nation's more recent flags.

Capital of San Marino: San Marino

Area of San Marino: 61.2 sq. km

Languages used in San Marino: Italian

Religions in San Marino: Roman Catholic

Colors and Symbolism of the San Marino Flag

The national flag of San Marino consists of two horizontal stripes of white and light blue with the nation's coat of arms in the center of the flag. The coat of arms features a shield that displays three towers standing on top of three peaks. The shield is topped by a crown and sits in the center of a laurel wreath. A scroll that contains the Latin word "Libertas" is placed under the wreath.

The white stripe on the flag represents peace, while the blue stripe is a symbol of liberty. The three towers on the flag represent the three castles that the people of San Marino constructed on Mount Titano, which is one of the nation's most distinctive landmarks.

San Marino Flag History

The first San Marino flag in recorded history had three horizontal stripes of orange, white, and purple with the emblem of three towers on three peaks in the center of the white stripe. The oldest record of the flag dates back to 1465, but it is not clear if the flag was designed at that time or if it was derived from an older pattern. The flag remained in use until 1862, at which point it was replaced with a precursor to the modern flag. The flag of 1862 took its colors from cockade which the nation's government commissioned in 1797. The flag differed from the current design only in that it used a different form of the coat of arms and used a different shade of blue than the modern flag. That current flag of San Marino came into use in 2011.